Opera For All

The Barber of Seville - Newbury Raceourse June 30th, 2012

Greenham Common Trust has invited Britain’s leading outdoor opera company Opera Brava to return for their fourth year to Newbury Racecourse on Saturday June 30th 2012 to perform Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.

The Trust has been organising and subsidising outdoor operas since 2005, delivering outstanding professional performances which are accessible and enjoyable for family audiences at a fraction of Covent Garden prices.

In Olympic year the whole country is poised for a myriad of amazing cultural experiences and The Barber of Seville promises to be a spectacle which will not disappoint. With an audience of up to 2,000 adults and children expected, this production will excite and thrill both regular opera audiences and anyone who wants to see opera for the first time.   

Opera Brava Director Bronek Pomorski says: “Written in three weeks, Rossini’s melodic masterpiece is one of the wittiest and most immediately appealing comic operas in the repertoire today and as fresh to the ear now as when it first burst upon it’s Italian audiences in 1816. As the plot unfolds and is dramatically told  through Rossini’s brilliant musical structure,  it helps us to understand,  in part,  the Barber’s special place in the history of opera.”

Opera Brava is also celebrating its 25th year as Britain’s leading touring opera company. Their production of The Barber of Seville is performed by professional and experienced national and international opera singers who have worked with major companies such as; English National Opera and Covent Garden.  Paul Austin Kelly has sung The Count Almaviva at The Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden, Gillian Webster who has sung Mimi at The Royal Opera House sings Berta,  Mark Beesley currently at The Royal Opera House is Bartolo and Martin Nelson a regular at The Royal Opera House sings Don Basilio.  Two young rising stars, Niamh Kelly as Rosina, and John Lofthouse as Figaro, unravel Rossini’s fantastic score with wonderful skill. This is all held together by Jeremy Silver, an international conductor who has conducted at English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Europe and in South Africa.

Greenham Common Trust spokesman Julian May says: “The outdoor opera events have become a must see in the Newbury calendar. We are delighted to welcome back Opera Brava who always deliver a very special evening to remember.”

The Trust is also funding the hugely popular junior opera for the third year in partnership with Opera Brava, which will be performed at Newbury Racecourse on Thursday June 28th.

Felix Rayner, headteacher of the Winchcome School, says: "The Winchcombe School is delighted to be working with Opera Brava this summer on their production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This will be an amazing opportunity for our children and staff to work with professional singers and actors. We hope this will unleash the many talents of our children and give them a new and exciting experience they can build on in the future. We thank The Greenham Common Trust in their support of this project - the whole school community are looking forward to it immensely."

Bronek Pomorski adds: "We are really looking forward to working with the teachers and children of Winchcombe School at Newbury Racecourse. It will be a fantastic opportunity for the school children to experience performing in an outdoor Opera and hopefully a memory they will cherish for years to come."

Tickets for The Barber of Seville cost £10 and are available from the Corn Exchange in Newbury. You can purchase tickets online from www.cornexchangenew.com, by calling the theatre’s box office on 01635 522733 or by calling into the theatre in the Market Place, Newbury. Doors open at 6pm for a 7.30pm start. A licensed bar is available and visitors are welcome to bring a picnic and their own chairs.
The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe performance starts at 7pm and admission is free. Refreshments will be served before and during the performance. All donations will go towards school funds.

For more information about the Trust Opera for All performances please click here

La Boheme 2011 - Find out how this year's performance went

Click here to see a review and photographs from La Boheme at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday June 11.

Or watch a video from last year's performance of The Magic Flute. 

Opera for All is Greenham Common Trust’s flagship annual event where the whole family can enjoy professional outdoor opera at a fraction of Covent Garden Prices. The Trust has been organising the popular subsidised event at Newbury Racecourse since 2005 (to coincide with the racecourse’s centenary celebrations) and last year we had our highest ever audience of 1,500 people. The opera is part of the Trust’s charitable initiative to make all genres of music and the arts accessible to the local community in West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

The nationally recognised touring opera company Opera Brava brings the best and most loved operas to audiences at an open air performance at the height of summer, when the crowds can enjoy a picnic with their music. On Saturday June 11, 2011 local residents will once again be invited to bring their hampers and blankets and soak up the wonderful atmosphere of Puccini’s finest score La Boheme.

In 2010 the Trust decided to expand its opera into a local weekend of culture by creating a partnership with West Berkshire Minority Ethnic Forum and supported them in their Culture Fest – an event celebrating the rich diversity of culture in our local communities. We also asked Opera Brava to extend its opera events to include a junior opera which is practised and performed by The Willows Primary School children in Greenham culminating in open air performance on the Friday before the main event at Newbury Racecourse. Last year they performed The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and this year it will be Prince Caspian. (Click Junior Opera for more details).

The Trust's chief executive Stuart Tagg says: "Opera for All is a fantastic opportunity for the whole community to experience a professional, high quality opera at an affordable price. So if you've never been to an opera before why not come down, bring a picnic and enjoy a wonderful evening out. What could be better than sipping a glass of wine, watching the sun set and listening to some of the finest opera in the country?”

Visit the Opera Brava website

Watch last year's opera - The Magic Flute - Preview
Watch last year's opera - The Magic Flute - Edited Highlights